Uprising
by Now.Get.This
Summary: COMPLETE. This kid has a gun! He could take all of our lives in just a few seconds. None of us moved until he told us to. We didn't try to follow the rules, it wasn't even a rule. We were just too scared to do anything. - A Short Stack fanfic.
1. one Andy

** 8:30am**

"Bradie, would you hurry up! We gotta leave in five minutes!" I yelled, standing at the bottom of the staircase. I'd woken him up ages ago and he hadn't even left his bedroom yet. I don't know what he was doing in there, getting ready for school or doing homework or what. But today I had to get to school on time. If I was late once more I'd be given an after school detention. Usually I wouldn't mind if I got a detention, it was usually worth it. But it was Winter now and too cold to stay back after school.

"He's not going to school," mum told me, walking across the landing and coming downstairs. I stared at her, annoyed. If he was going to pretend to be sick and have the day off then I was too. I followed mum as she walked to the front door, dressed and ready for work.

"Then I get to stay home too," I said to her as she rummaged through her handbag for something or other. This usually didn't work, but I hoped it did today. As much as I wanted to go to Study Period this morning, the only class I have with Shaun, Jade and Laura, I also wanted to stay home.

"No you don't. Bradie isn't well, he's going to stay in bed all day and you're going to go to school. You should be leaving now, shouldn't you?" she asked, pulling her car keys out of her bag and slipping it on to her arm. I sighed.

"Fine I'll go to school. But if I die or freeze to death or something on the way then it will be your fault!" I said to her. I decided to give this a try a few years ago when Bradie had a day off school, and it worked. I now try it almost every time I want to stay home from school but it hasn't worked since.

"It certainly will," she said, turning to open the front door, "Now get to school." And with that she walked out the front door and slammed it behind her. I scoffed. No goodbye. No have a nice day. Just go to school. Fuck it, I won't bother anymore. I'll go to school I decided, turning around to go upstairs. As if Bradie was sick. He barely missed a day of school. He never complained about having to go to school, our parents thought he was a perfect student. No, he definetly wasn't perfect. I ran up the stairs, making a lot of noise since we were now the only two home. As I reached the landing at the top of the stairs I saw Bradie's bedroom door open. I watched as he walked out of the hallway and noticed I was standing there.

"You're sick, go back to bed," I said to him, trying to be smart. He rolled his eyes and pushed past me. He looked fine to me. He was only wearing yesterdays jeans and his hair was a mess but he was fine. I turned around and followed him back downstairs to the kitchen.

"I'm just getting a drink," he told me. His voice was all funny, I could tell he had a cold. But that's no reason to stay home from school.

"Nuh uh, go back to bed. You're sick!" I told him. He ignored me and went to the fridge just as there was a knock at the front door. We stared at each other for a second, waiting for the other to go answer the door. He sighed.

"Fine, I'll get it," he shut the fridge door and walked off to answer the door. I heard the door open and a loud girls voice rang through the house. I knew who that was.

"Hey Bradie!" Laura said to him. Laura's Bradie's girlfriend. Laura is Bailey's stepsister, that's how they met. Plus we go to the same high school.

"Hey," he said. I had an idea, I was still annoyed about not also getting the day off. So off I walked to the front door, where they were standing just inside the door, the door still wide open.

"Hey, Bradie you have to go back to bed. You're sick," I told him. He scoffed and ignored me.

"Yeah, I'm not coming to school today. I'm really not feeling good. But come by after school," he said to her. I took a good look at Laura. She was a cute girl. Not in a pretty way, but in a weird way. Her chest-length dirty blonde hair was knotty and her light green eyes were too big and perfect that they just didn't look nice. Even though it was probably only ten degrees outside she was wearing denim shorts, these weird pink ballet like shoes and a white top. It was the middle of Winter, yet she chose fashion over life.

"Aw, poor kitten," she said to him, grabbing his hand. He smiled at her and gave me a look. Go away.

"Alright Bradie, we'll see you after school," I told him. He turned back to Laura and smiled at her again.

"Okay, you'll come by after school?" he asked her. She nodded.

"Me 'nd Andy will walk together," she told him.

"Yeah, well I'll see you after school," he said, leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead. She let go of his hand and he left us alone.

"I just gotta get my bag," I told her and turned on my heel to go to the lounge room. I picked up my backpack from where I'd dumped it on the couch and slung it over my shoulders. Then I noticed my phone on the coffee table, the screen flashing. New message? I picked it up and realized what it said. Low battery, low battery. Over and over again. I sighed and put it back on the table. I headed back to the front door and the two of us left for school.

* * *

**8:50am**

It wasn't too cold out. But I hoped it would get a little bit warmer. I liked the cold, but not when it's freezing and I'm scared to take a step in case I slip on the wet streets. We arrived at the front gates of the school with enough time to go by our lockers, get our things and make it to class on time. We arrived at our lockers, they were both in the same hallway. Only a few kids were left wandering around the hallways, already skipping class or passing time before the bell went. I put my bag in my locker and grabbed my English books. I had Study Period and then English so I always did my English homework first period. I slammed the door to my locker shut and turned around to find Laura already walking to me. She grinned at me as she got closer and I couldn't help but grin back. She had this huge grin about her, one side of her mouth opened wider than the other, making her look crazy. Every time I saw it it made me grin back.

"Jade and Shaun here today? Study isn't fun without them," she said. I pretended to be hurt by that as we slowly started making our way to classroom E4.

"Aren't I fun?" I asked her. She shook her head, shaking her hair everywhere.

"No, you're always doing homework," she said. I chuckled, that was true. We walked on to the classroom, going inside just as the bell rang for the start of the class. Our teacher Lisa wasn't even in yet so we walked to our usual seats at the back of the class without getting yelled at. Shaun and Jade were already sitting down, slumped down in their seats almost asleep.

"Hey," Laura and I said at the same time as I sat next to Shaun and Laura sat on my other side. They both just nodded at us as the door flew open and Lisa came rushing in. She set her laptop and books down on the desk at the front of the room and scanned the class, trying to find out if anyone was missing. She didn't notice anyone missing and sat down to take roll. When that was done she told us the same thing she did every Thursday morning, "You can study quietly and you may talk but do that quietly too and don't distract anyone." Nobody followed these rules but she never noticed, she was too wrapped up in doing whatever it was on her laptop.

I opened my English notebook. It wouldn't take me the whole class to finish this, I only had to answer a few questions. Shaun and Jade looked dead, they sat there limply for the whole class doing nothing. Laura on the otherhand was talking, loudly as usual, to this blonde haired kid Jeremy at the table beside her. Every now and again she'd include me in the conversation and I'd forget about the homework for a few minutes. Then I'd look down at my desk to my notebook and I'd remember what I was doing. The same thing happened over and over, soon the class was over. And I was dissapointed. Sure I'd gotten to talk to Laura, but this was the only class I had with her and I barely got to speak to her alone. I liked it better when it was just a conversation between us.

There was only a minute or two until the bell would ring for the next class and we'd all rush out into the hallway. I finished my homework, shutting my notebook and shoving my pen into my pocket. I sat back in my chair, my back a little stiff from sitting still.

"Watcha got next?" Laura asked, tapping my on the arm.

"English, just like last week and the week before," I told her, a teasing smile on my face. She smiled back.

"I remember now," she said, playing with the end of her hair, "I just wanted to know if you were gonna go?" I nodded.

"Yeah I'm going, why aren't you?" She sighed and shrugged.

"I really don't like Maths. It's just so. . . Make's me feel dead. It drags on and I hate that," I agreed. I didn't like much of the classes I had to take but if they went by quickly it wasn't so bad.

I jumped and looked up as one of the English teachers walked in. She looked worried and scanned her eyes over the kids in the class before she walked up to Lisa who had been typing away on her laptop since she came in. Lisa looked up at her from her seat and they exchanged a few words. Then the English teacher left just as quickly as she came in and Lisa scanned her eyes over the class, looking worried. She stood up and walked around the desk so she was standing in front of the first row of kids.

"Class!" she yelled. All of us stopped and looked up at her. She barely spoke when we were in this class so when she did we all listened, "Mrs. Richard has just told me that our class is to stay in here, even after the bell has rang," she said in a stern voice. She still looked worried or nervous as she watched our reaction. The class started talking to each other, the whole room filled with voices taking over each other. Some complaining, others glad they wouldn't have to go to their next class.

"I don't care if we have a whole school assembly or what, it'll be worth it," Laura said to no one in particular.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was sort of glad about this but annoyed that I'd wasted my time doing homework.

"Well whatver we do now can't be as bad as Maths class. I'm glad to be missing out on it," she said, looking at me. She looked a little nervous too.

"I guess so." I looked to my right at Shaun and Jade who were now suddenly awake and wondering out loud why we were staying back. Then the bell rang, making me almost jump out of my seat. Even though half the class was glad to be staying back most of us still got up to leave, out of habit. Lisa ran to the door and stood in front of it. Calls of complaint covered up her voice as she tried to tell us something.

"Sit down!" she yelled as loud as I'd ever heard her say anything. Everyone stopped talking and listened as she continued, "You need to sit down and stay in here. I'm not kidding, this is serious," she told us. A nervous knot tugged in my stomach and I knew this wasn't some practise fire drill or anything. There was really something going on in here.


	2. two Laura

**9:50am**

"Sit down!" Everyone fell silent, "You need to sit down and stay in here. I'm not kidding, this is serious." I was worried. I'd never seen Lisa like this. She was still young, only in her mid twenties. Usually if she wasn't typing away on her laptop she was nice and friendly with us kids. But never had I seen her so scared in my life.

I sat back down in my seat, nervous about what was going to happen. Something bad. I looked at Andy beside me who looked just as nervous as I felt.

"I wonder what's going on," I said. He nodded.

"Something bad," he replied. I scoffed. I had to say it out loud to convince myself.

"Don't be stupid. Nothing bad is happening, they're just trying to annoy us," I said, referring to the teachers as 'they'. Just a few minutes ago I wanted to stay here and not have to go to Maths. Now, I'd do anything to leave and find out what was going on.

"Aahh!" I heard a girls high pitch scream come from out in the hallway. We all heard it and for a moment we just stared at each other, our faces full of worry. Then we jumped up and ran for the door or the small windows that looked out into the hallway.

"Sit down! Now! All of you, sit down!" Lisa was again blocking the door and trying to get us all back to our seats. Most of the kids went and sat down again, sitting up in their seats and trying to see out the windows. But they were too high up and we had no idea what that scream was all about. The rest of them sat down and Lisa began to walk around the class. She was talking quietly to all the kids. I was shaking a little. I really didn't know what was going to happen. A person doesn't scream like that for nothing. I mean that scream wasn't playful, it was scary. Really fucking scary.

"Do you know what's going on?" I heard Jeremy ask someone. I turned to look at him. He was talking to Lisa. She shook her head.

"I'm not sure but we just have to stay here and find out," she told him, her voice a little shaky. As she left Jeremy and his friend and went to walk by our desks the classroom door flew open with a bang. We all jumped and looked up to see a blonde haired kid, dressed in black jeans and a grey tshirt. It took all of us a second to realize and then we all let out scared gasps and ducked behind our desks. The kid had a gun and he held his arm out, pointing it at us all. I pushed my chair back and ducked to the floor. Andy was beside me in a second and Lisa was kneeling on the floor behind us. I could hear Lisa whimpering behind us but the kid hadn't done anything yet. I could still see him standing there looking at us all. In the worry and nervous knot in my stomach I recognized him. I knew him.

"Where's your teacher?!" he suddenly yelled in a hard rough voice. He'd said that before. Lisa stayed down. I turned my head to look at her and she caught my eye.

"Just do as he says," she whispered to those of us close enough to hear. I nodded at her as she slowly stood up and I watched her put her hands in the air. I felt sorry for her but then again I was just focused on myself. This kid has a gun! He could take all of our lives in just a few seconds.

"Come 'ere!" the kid yelled and nodded towards the classroom door. She slowly walked up to the front of the room and to the door. She stood in the doorway and waited for him to do something. Was he going to shoot her there and then? "Go to the staffroom and don't you fucking dare think about calling for help. You go in there and you stay there and shut up!" he yelled at her, pointing the gun at her, still stretching his arm out. She still kept her hands up in the air as she nodded, looking like she was about to cry. She turned around and left the class. I could hear her heels click on the ground as she walked away. The kid at the front of the room put his arm down, pointing the gun at the ground.

"If you're wondering what's going on, we're taking over the school," he told us, now relaxed. Then I realized who he was. He went to our school. He was in the Twelfth Grade. I didn't know his name but I remembered him. For a moment I wondered about this all. Was he the only one doing this? But then he spoke again and I completely forgot all of these thoughts.

"I know you've all got phones and I know you're all thinking about calling the police. No, you're not going to fucking call them because I'll kill you before they even get here! Any of you try to leave, call for help or any of that shit and I will kill you!" he yelled, "You all stay here and shut up!" With that he left the class, slamming the door behind him. We could hear him fiddling with the lock on the outside of the door and we were left alone. I turned to look at Andy, the two of us still under the table. He looked about as shit scared as I felt. A few tears sprang to my eyes as I realized what was happening. And what was going to happen. They were going to kill us all.

* * *

**10:20am**

"What do you think's gonna happen?" Shaun whispered. I looked up at him from where I had been staring into my lap. The four of us, Andy, Jade, Shaun and I, had been huddled in the corner of the classroom. The kid with the gun hadn't come back and we weren't sure what was going on or what was going to happen. We hadn't said much as we sat there. I'd pulled my knees to my chest, folding my hands around my legs. The others sat with their legs crossed. I wasn't too sure what to think. A little part of me still thought this wasn't real. That the reason we had to stay in this classroom wasn't because some kid in the school had a gun and there was no escape. But another part was just blank. I didn't feel nervous or worried anymore. I wasn't wondering who this kid was or why he was doing what he's doing. It was just nothing, like I didn't care what happened.

No one had time to answer Shaun's question. The door at the front of the room slowly opened but it squeaked, catching our attention. The whisperings going on in the class fell silent as all of us stared at the door, waiting for someone to come in. Someone did, alot of people did. The same kid from before came in, holding his gun up as a warning. So that we knew if we messed up he'd use it. Another brown headed guy followed him in. The brown head guy was wearing the same black jeans and grey tshirt as the other guy. I recognized him too, I'd seen him around. They both stood at the front of the room and motioned for someone outside to come in. They did, a whole class in fact. They were all quiet and looked worn out, their eyes big and scared. They silently shuffled in and sat down in the empty spots in the room. It was a whole other class that we'd have to share this room with now.

Once all of the kids had sat down and found their places the brown head guy spoke up.

"We're going to tell you what's going on," he said in a loud, rough voice. He took a step towards us and looked over us all, "But you better not tell anyone outside of this room what is happening! We're trusting you!" He finished speaking and the other guy stood forward.

"All the kids in the school are in five classes, so each of us patrol one class each. Consider yourselves lucky, some rooms have four classes in them. We've got a set of rules that you'll have to follow to get out of here alive. Think of it like a game,"

"Rule one! We're going to let you keep your phones. So you can check the time," he said the last part in a sickly sweet voice, like he knew we just wanted to attack him and kill him then and there, "Think of it as a privelege. Rule Two! If any of you little fuckers call or text anybody outside of this room you will be killed," he stared at us after that and I knew they were serious. If they found out any of us had contacted anyone outside the room they would shoot us in the head in front of everyone, "Rule Three! You talk when we say you talk, you eat when we say you eat. I think that's it," he suddenly changed his tone of voice as he looked at the other guy. They both nodded.

"If we think of anything else you should know, we'll notify you. But for now you can do something for us," the blonde haired guy told us. He left the room for a moment and we all waited for him to come back in a stunned silence, "Stick these on the windows," he came back in with a stack of black paper and a whole load of sticky tape, probably from the Art rooms. None of us moved until he told us to. We didn't try to follow the rules, it wasn't even a rule. We were just too scared to do anything, "Come on!" he urged us on and immediately all of us jumped up and formed a line. We took a few pieces of paper from him and sticky tape, then went to the windows to stick them up. I stood between Jade and Shaun in line. Shaun was tapping his feet, a nervous habit of his. I turned for just a moment to look at Jade. His eyes were darting around the room, not resting on anything for more than a second. His own trademark nervous habit. We got to the front of the line where the three of us grabbed a handful of paper and a roll of sticky tape each. Then we made our way to the empty windows at the back of the classroom and started to put them up. We didn't speak as we did it. We just tried to stick them up as quickly as possible, before the two guys got angry. We had to pull a table over to stand on to reach the top windows and then we finished. We went back to our corner where Andy was already sitting, finished putting up his paper.

Within a few minutes the entire windows were covered, no one could see in our out. The world outside could end and we would never know. After we've all taken our places at the desks or on the floor the two guys look satisfied as they study our work from the front of the room.

"Well done," the blonde one says.

"We'll be back soon," they were about to leave when he stopped, "I'm being so rude! I must introduce myself," he said, starting to get smart now that he knew he had control over our lives, "I'm. . . Harry."

"And I'm Max," the blonde haired guy told us. They left it at that and left the room. Before the door shut Harry stuck his head back in the room.

"You can talk you know," he said before slamming the door shut and we could hear him fiddling with the door handle, locking it.


	3. three Andy

**10:45am**

We'd been sitting there huddled in the corner for ages. Laura sobbing into Shaun's chest. We were all scared but we didn't show it. The other three of us showed nothing. Jade sat with his back to the rest of the room, staring at the wall behind Shaun's head and making no movement. I sat silently, watching everyone else. Shaun was whispering things to Laura, trying to calm her down. If she got too worked up and Max and Harry came back in they might kill her.

And that was just something I couldn't even think about.

We had no idea what was going on in the other classes, with the other kids. Every now and again there was a loud bang or shouting and crying. No one wanted to listen to the noises, no one wanted to know what was going on out there. We couldn't even try to imagine it. Max was the 'guard' for our classroom. He sat at the front, in Lisa's desk chair and watched us. He was silent, he didn't need to yell since none of us dared to break the rules.

I didn't feel anything as yet another cry was heard from out in the hallway. Tears welled in my eyes and my throat got tighter but I didn't cry, I didn't scream or question anyone about what they thought was happening. We were just waiting for it to stop.

"No! No!" there was a loud piercing scream from a girl out in the hallway. I glanced at Laura as she started to cry harder, trying to muffle her cries. I looked to the front of the room just as the door was swung open and Harry came in, dragging a blonde haired girl in behind him. Her hair was a mess and she seemed like she could break down crying any moment. I couldn't stop staring at her and did my best not to catch her eye. If I did I have no idea what I would do. Would I just stare back at her? Or smile at her to let her know everything was okay and we would all help her?

"Stay here and don't fucking move," Harry hissed to the girl, letting go of her arm and leaving her at the front of the room. Her stalked down the rows of tables, stopping every now and again to take a good look at someone. Max was still sitting at the front of the room, seeming unaware of what was going on. When Harry reached the end of the room he stood in front of our group. He stared down at us, a smile on his face. I didn't look at him, worried what would happen if he caught me looking at him. Then he turned his back on us. I looked out over the room of people as they watched him.

"You, you, you," he said, pointing at three different people through out the room, "Get up." Three guys stood up in their seats, their faces stained with tears and looking like they were just about ready to kill themselves to escape this. They waited for more instructions as Harry started to walk to the front of the room. He stopped, halfway there, and turned around. He looked over us four again and then pointed at one of us.

"You," he said. My heart beat sped up, I was sure it would overwork and I wouldn't be able to breathe. I turned around to see Jade prying Laura's hands off Shaun's arms as Shaun stood up and took one last look at us. He didn't whisper anything as he followed Harry to the front of the room. The three other guys joined them and they left the classroom along with the blonde haired girl Harry had first brought in with him. The door slammed shut behind him and I turned back to Jade and Laura, she was now huddled right into the corner of the room, tears streaming down her face as she stared between the two of us.

"He's not coming back," she whispered. I almost cried at that. I hadn't even thought of what those guys were going to be doing now. But the next few seconds gave me an idea.

"No! No! Please, don't!" that same piercing girls voice screamed and there was an extremely loud bang, a gun shot. My breath caught in my throat as Laura started to cry harder. I didn't realize I was moving until I'd settled into Shaun's place beside Laura. I put my arm around her and hugged her close. She was my brothers girlfriend and I had the place to look after her. Especially in this situation.

"Shh," I whispered to her over and over as I slowly rocked her. I just wanted her to be quiet so Max didn't hear. I heard the classroom door squeak open again but this time I didn't look up. I was focused on Laura. Right then I wasn't worried about Laura, just for that tiny moment, I was scared at what I might see if I did look up. A moment later there were footsteps coming towards us and Shaun sat down in my old spot, across from me. He stared at the tiny circle of the floorboards between us all, a stunned look on his face. He didn't say anything or flinch when Jade quietly asked what happened. He didn't need to ask though. We both knew what he had seen.

I looked back at Laura who was leaning onto my chest, not crying so much anymore. I heard someone take a shaky breath and looked back up to see Shaun with his head in his hands, crying. Jade put his hand on his shoulder. Neither of us knew what to do. So we just sat there silently, waiting for what would happen next.

* * *

**5:47pm**

It was nearing six o' clock when we were given more instructions. The whole room had sat around all day doing nothing, our stomachs rumbling. No one had been in or out of the room since Shaun and the other guys had been called out. Both Laura and Shaun had been in and out of crying spells all day, though Laura's had stopped after an hour or two. There was a time when Laura and Jade had drifted off to sleep and I did my best to get Shaun to tell me what he had seen. Though I didn't want to know I thought maybe if he told me it would help him. But he refused to speak a word of it and I left it at that.

"Alright kiddies, it's time for dinner!" Max shouted at us in his 'happy' voice from the front of the room. He stood up from his seat and stared out at everyone. Before he had a chance to pick up his gun or yell again everyone stood up and walked to the classroom door. Max picked up his gun, shoving it in his pocket so that half of it still stuck out. We had to wait while he counted us all and unlocked the door. He waited as we filed out into the hallway and stood in silence as he locked the door again, "Follow me!" he yelled in a stern voice. He lead the way down the hallway and around the corner to one of the vending machines. We're having chocolate for dinner. A dream come true, but right now I wanted to be home eating vegetables with my family.

"We're having that?" Laura whispered as she stared at the vending machine, lit up in the darkness. I nodded though she couldn't see me.

"Who's got money? Huh, everyone who's got money better bring it forward now," ten or so stepped out of the group and put their hands in their pockets, pulling out small change. They all handed their money to Max and stepped backwards, "I hope your not allergic," Max said to no one in particular as he started putting the money in the machine and slowly taking out the chocolates. It took a few minutes for him to put in the change and get enough chocolate, almost enough for one each.

"I'm so hungry," Jade mumbled beside me as he watched Max pick up the pile of chocolate's off the floor. Max turned to us and smiled.

"Back to the classroom. Oh and there's not enough for one each so you'll have to share some of you," he walked around the group of us and made his way back to the classroom, expecting us all to follow him. I waited until most of the group had started to follow him. So I could walk at the back, nowhere near Max. Most of the group had moved on and I was about to make my way to follow them when I heard a noise. I turned around. Laura was frozen, watching something. That was when I saw a dark haired girl, kneeling on the ground and another girl standing beside her. The girl standing up was whispering to her, trying to get her to stand up. The dark haired girl was whimpering, telling the other girl she couldn't take this anymore, she wanted to leave.

"C'mon Allie, please get up. Please!" the standing girl pleaded.

"No. . .No. . .No! No! I don't wanna go back! Please!" Allie started to yell. She started banging her fists on the ground and my breath caught in my throat. In a second loud foot steps thumped down the hallway and stood over Allie. As Max stared down at her the other girl quickly ran off and joined the rest of the group that had stopped in the hallway. Allie kept yelling as I too stood frozen in shock and fear.

"Please! I just wanna go home! I won't tell anyone! Please! Please!" she stopped banging her fists and stared up at Max, wanting to see his answer. Max opened his hands, dropping the chocolates on the floor between him and Allie. He put his hand to his pocket and pulled out his gun. I thought I had enough time but before I could grab Laura and cover her eyes a deafening shot had been made at Allie and she was dead. I didn't even look at Allie after she had been killed, but Laura had seen the whole thing. My ears rang, badly, as I put my arm around her shoulders.

Max glared at us before picking up the chocolates, walking past us and to the front of the group. As soon as he had left us, over the ringing in my ears, I could hear Laura crying. I kept my arm around her shoulders and held her face to my chest with my other hand in the hopes it would block out her crying.

"Ssh, it's okay. I'm here, stop crying," I kept whispering to her as we walked at the back of the group to the classroom. As we waited for Max to unlock the door I whispered to her, "Just don't cry as we walk inside. Please," she knew why I didn't want her to cry as we went inside. If Max saw or heard he'd probably shoot her in the head while my arm was still around her shoulders. I wasn't sure if she would but as we walked past Max into the room she did stand up straight and cut out the crying for just a few seconds.

This time Max didn't stay in the classroom. He left instructions, 'Only whispering, text anyone and I'll kill you,' before he dumped the pile of chocolates on the front desk and left the room, locking us in.

The two of us walked back to 'our corner' where Shaun and Jade were already sitting, leaning against the wall with their legs crossed. My ears were still ringing but it was quickly going away. Laura was still sobbing a little and I couldn't blame her. We had been locked in here all day with no idea why we were here. We had been threatened and none of us had been allowed to the toilets all day. I was about to wet myself.

The pile of chocolates at the table was slowly growing smaller. Jade went up and grabbed one of the last ones, we'd have to share. As he sat down there was a buzzing sound in Laura's pocket. She slowly reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out her phone. The screen was lit up '1 new message'. She opened it and I couldn't help but read it over her shoulder.  
'Where are you & Andy?! Mum's freaking out & I'm worried too' was all it said. From Bradie. I sighed. I'd completely forgotten about him, what would he do? Nothing, there was nothing anybody could do. This was going to keep going on until Max, Harry and their friends died or we did. I was sure of it.

"Don't reply," Shaun warned her. He had seen the message too. She looked up at him through blurry eyes.

"I wasn't going to," she said, her voice shaky like it had been all day, "I'm too scared to." she closed the message and shoved her phone back into her pocket. She pulled her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees, and leaned her head on my shoulder. I was surprised at first and my heart instantly beat faster. I could feel my cheeks heating up, burning red, so I looked down at my lap, careful not to move my shoulder.

It hadn't even been a minute since she'd opened the message from Bradie when her phone buzzed again. She sat up straight and put her legs down flat on the ground. She pulled out her phone and opened the message. Shaun and I both looked over her shoulder to see the message. Jade didn't seem interested just tired . Besides he had busied himself in eating his quarter of the chocolate.

'Youre ok yeah? Bradie text me but i didnt reply' was all the message said. From Bailey, her stepbrother. Bailey. Alex. Bailey & Alex! Suddenly it sort of hit me that this was real. I don't know what it was but it sort of seemed to be the next level of realizing this was real. If any of use died it was real, that was it. My heart sunk a little at the thought and I felt like crying. But I wanted to be strong so I held those tears back, letting very few escape. I wiped them away with my sleeve.

'Yeah, were all ok. whats happening?!' she text back. A few moments later the phone buzzed in her hand. She opened the new message. 'I've no fuckin idea but i dont think im going to make it. x' the message said. That was when I started crying. Even he thought we weren't going to make it.

* * *

**9:03am**

They left us alone that night. Or most of the night. At about 11pm they came to take us to the bathrooms and then we were taken back to our classroom. Our 'guard' Max didn't even come back after that. We stopped with our crying that night. We didn't cry anymore, we'd gotten it all out of our system I guess. We slept most of the night after they took us to the bathrooms. We were all so glad to get there. In the morning Laura, Jade and Shaun's phones were flooded with messages and missed calls. But they're phones were still on vibrate and we didn't notice them come through. They didn't check them though, there was nothing they could say.

Most of the classroom was awake by 9am and that was around the time the rest of the class was woken up anyway. Max and Harry slammed open the classroom door, followed in by two black haired boys wearing the exact same thing. They all had their guns in hand and they didn't look too happy. I was too scared to move. If I made one wrong move they'd shoot me.

"We know you've been texting!" Harry yelled, locking the door and the four of them split up to walk throughout the classroom, "We know one of you called someone! Who? Huh!" Then he stopped and stood still, giggling to himself. He stood over some short girl who was leaning against the wall, in the middle. She was about to burst into tears and I wanted to go over and help her but I stopped myself.

"Was it you? It was one of you! Who fucking called someone?!" Harry yelled, still staring at her. She broke into tears and started yelling too. Max and the other two guys had been laughing and walking around the class, death staring anyone who dare look them in the eye. But now they stopped and were watching the girl, like the rest of us.

"It wasn't me! It was none of us! We didn't call anyone!" she yelled into Harry's face. A smile caught at his lips. He turned around to look at the rest of us.

"It wasn't any of you? Then who the fuck was it!" Three voices rang out after that. One was Gretel, a small blonde girl who had spent most of the time in here curled up under one of the desks. The other was a boy who I didn't know. And the other was right beside me. It was Laura's voice. I silently pleaded with her, begging her to shut up. But she kept yelling, they all did. They were in hysterics. Yelling to please stop this and that none of us called anyone. Harry nodded at the other three guys and they went in different directions. One grabbed Gretel, one grabbed the boy, Harry grabbed the short girl leaning against the wall and Max came over to us and grabbed Laura. He grabbed her forearm and dragged her up off the ground. She was still screaming and struggling to get out of his grip. It killed me to watch them drag these four kids out of the room but I just didn't want to help.

We could hear the screams in the hallway. It was silent after they left the room with the four kids and locked the door. We all sat there limply, trying not to think of what would happen and whether they would come back or not. They started screaming a few minutes later and we could hear the yells of Max and the other guys telling them to shut up. I could hear Laura's screams the most. I don't whether she was screaming the loudest or I could just hear my name above the other screams but I could hear he fine.

"Andy! Andy! Please! Ahh! Please, help! Andy!" she yelled over and over again. Her voice was getting raspy, she was losing her voice. She kept yelling for me between crying. As did the others, though they cried for other people to help them. But no one could, even if we tried. We were locked inside. As I sat there listening to her and the other's screaming I started silently crying at the sound of my name being called.


	4. four Laura

**10:02am**

I didn't sleep that night, none of us could. We could hear yelling from the hallways and other classes. It was sort of weird to hear them, like the noises were from another world or something.

The bruises on my body from the beating me and three other kids received still pounded against my skin. It hurt to move and I knew they wouldn't just dissapear after a day or two. These bruises were going to be around for a while.

I did my best to not think about the beating. It was too much. This was all too much. The thing that hurt even more than the bruises was that they took one of the girls away after the beating and she has yet to come back. But I'm sure I know what happened to her.

Most of the kids in the class were awake. Like usual they were all sitting around lifelessy, waiting for more instructions or for someone to come save us. It was crazy that no one had come to save us yet. But how would we know if anyone tried? The windows were still covered in the black paper we had to stick to the windows the first day of this.

Max, our 'guard', was sitting at the front desk. It looked like he had stayed awak all night, just in case any of us messed up.

There was fiddling at the door, a noise I had heard too many times and hated. The door slowly opened and we watched as Harry came in. He walked up to Max and whispered in his ears. Max's face changed, anger. They both stood up and pulled their guns from their pockets.

"Everyone come stand up here!" Max yelled. We all jumped to our feet, ignoring the throbbing pain of the bruises, and hurried to the front of the room. We stood in a big group in front of Harry and Max and waited.

"We know someone from here called the police. We know it was someone in here. I've got proof," Harry started. He eyed us all carefully, "Now who the fuck was it?" He paused, "If you confess I won't kill you," he tried to 'reason' with us.

"Okay, new plan. Everyone in here is to hand in your phone! Now!" No one moved. I didn't there was no way I was giving up my phone. I carefully pulled the bottom of my top a little lower, to cover the bulge of my phone in my pocket.

Two guys suddenly stepped out of the group and placed their phones on the desk. It seemed like that was all they were going to do to us because Max turned away. But Harry spoke up.

"Come with us," he said to the two boys. They looked as if they instantly regretted handing in their phones and slowly followed them out of the room. This time they didn't lock the door, they didn't even shut it. We all slowly took our seats, hoping those two boys would be okay. They weren't. How could we miss the ringing in our ears from the two gun shots.

Max poked his head back in the classroom door.

"You two, come with me," he pointed to two boy sitting closest to the door. They looked sick as they followed Max out into the hallway. They returned a few minutes later, looking even worse than before they had left. They took their seats and Max locked the door, leaving tto go torment other classes with Harry.

A few people crowded around the two boy at the front of the room. I tried listening in on their small conversation.

"Are you okay?" one girl asked.

"What did you have to do?" another asked.

"Their bodies, we had to take them away," one of the boys whimpered. This was horrible. This had to end.


	5. five Alex

**11:00am**

Our 'guard' stomped into the over filled classroom, another two guys followed him in. One made sure to lock the door before he walked slowly behind the other guy into the middle of the room.

Bailey and I were sitting at a desk, like we had been since we'd gotten here.

I was angry, scared, worried and a little confused. I didn't know why we were here. I was hungry, tired and needed t use the bathroom yet again. A couple of times as I drifted in and out of sleep I wondered whether this was real. And sometimes I silently begged them to kill me, just to get me out of here.

Bailey sat with his chin in his hand, staring at the clock on the wall. Probably thinking the same as me, this will all end soon. Maybe.

"We know one of you called the cops! Who was it?" I drifted back into thoughts and realization as our 'guard' Harry yelled at us. He turned to a boy sitting at a desk closest to him when no one moved.

"It was you! Wasn't it? Admit it and I won't kill you," he teased, a smile playing at his lips. I was digusted at all this but as people got tormented and were dragged out of the room screaming I couldn't help but watch. None of us could.

I was feeling light-headed, all I'd had to eat in the last twenty-four hours was half a chocolate bar. I rubbed my forhead with my palms, hoping to somehow magically wake myself up more.

There was a screeching on the ground as someone pushed a chair backwards. I turned to see who it was but all I found was Bailey's ass in my face. It was him. He was standing up. I looked up at his face and I remembered all the times I reminded myself not to mess with him when he had this look on his face. Boy was he angry.

"Why are you doing this?" he yelled, "Just stop it, will you! You're driving us all fucking crazy! We just wanna get outta here! Please, stop it! Why are you doing this?" he yelled, once or twice banging his fist on the table. The room was silent as we held our breath and waited for a reply from either of them.

Harry turned away from the boy he had been questioning and took a step towards the desk we were sitting at.

"Why are we doing this?" he asked, "I don't know. For fun," he said, pretending to really think about the question.

"Why can't you just end it? Stop it! Please!" Bailey yelled back at him and his voice cracked. He was on the edge of tears. Harry kept that look on his face, the fake 'I'm thinking' look. Then his face fell blank.

"I guess we could end this all. It really is a waste, huh? Killing all these kids for no reason. Alright, we'll end this. We'll all go right outside now and 'fess up," with that he pulled his gun out of his pocket and pointed it towards Bailey. My immediate reaction was to jump away which was just what I did. I stood up in half a second and pushed my chair backwards, sending it crashing to the ground.

Harry chuckled and lowered the gun to his side.

"Let's go," he said to the two other guys. They quickly walked back to the door, unlocking it and waiting in the hallway as Harry took one last look at us from the front of the room.  
Bailey and I were still standing up and my heart was beating a million per minute. I could barely breathe properly anymore.

Before I could even realize he was raising his gun Harry shot it. But I somehow turned around just in time to see Bailey fall to the floor. A tiny hole in his chest, already pouring with blood. My breath got caught in my throat as his limp body hit the ground. I just stared at him, my legs frozen. No, this was not happening.

"No. . .I. . .Why is he. . .," I was saying nothing, whimpering to myself. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him as they filled with tears and a few kids rushed to him to try and help. But even though I couldn't think straight exactly I knew there was no way of helping him. If we called the ambulance we'd all be killed. If we tried to leave the room to get help we'd all be killed. There was nothing we could do.

"No! No!" Fuck!" I heard myself yell but I didn't think it was me. I fell to my kness on the floor and crumpled into a ball. I cried, loud and hard. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder but I ignored it. He's dead! He's dead! No! "Fuck!" I yelled again. "No! Help him!" I yelled to no one. I suddenly rolled over and sat up properly. The brown haired guy who was trying to comfort me stared at me. I stared back at him for a few seconds before I raised my hands to my head and started pulling at my hair. Sometimes rubbing my head, sometimes pulling on my hair.

"No. No. No. No. Not happening. This is not real!"

"It'll be okay," the guy said to me. I slightly recognized him but I didn't know him. I stared at him through blurry eyes, trying to believe him, "It'll all be over soon. I'm sorry," he said, reaching out to again put his hand on my shoulder. I rolled back over, onto the ground in a ball and continued whimpering to myself. It'll all be over soon. It's not real. It's not real.


	6. six Andy

**2:00pm**

"I wanna go home," Jade mumbled as we sat there, it felt like we'd been doing this forever. Jade hadn't spoken much the whole time we've been in here. He's barely done anything, unless he's been asked to.

Laura was curled up in a ball between Shaun and I who were both leaning against the wall with our legs crossed. Jade was lying on the floor in front of the three of us, his hands behind his head.

We were over this. We couldn't think anymore, didn't move unless told to, didn't and couldn't do anything.

There was a bang at the door as it opened and hit the wall. I still couldn't help myself but look up at who was there, though I was over doing that too.

Max and Harry walked in, both holding someone up by the sleeves of their shirt. The guy's hair was a mess and he had huge bags under his red, puffy eyes. It wasn't until they started yelling and shaking this guy when I realized who it was. But Jade bet me to it.

"Alex," he said. He'd sat up and stared along with the rest of us at Alex.

"This is an example of someone who doesn't do what they're told," Harry yelled as they both proceeded to violently shake Alex. He started to cry but didn't move. He was strong and stared past everyone to the back wall.

"Why did we bring you in here? Huh, what did you do wrong?" Max yelled at Alex. He waited for an answer but Alex gave him nothing. My heart was beating a million per minute and my breathing was going wild. Don't do anything stupid, please.

Alex whispered something, so quietly not even Max or Harry could hear.

"What?" Harry yelled at his face.

"I. . . I did it! I called the police!" Alex yelled, suddenly taking his eyes off the back wall of the room and his eyes darted across everyone. Waiting for their reaction. But we were all speechless. We thought Max and Harry were just blaming us for the police being here. But it really was one of us who did it. And not just anyone, it was Alex who did it! He called the police on us!

I stared on in confusement and scared as they let go of his shirt and began. Kicking, punching and threatening as Alex fell to the floor and howled in pain.

"Stop! Stop! Please! Don't!" But they didn't stop until he stopped yelling. When he was unconscious. I couldn't look away and I couldn't do anything. Even though this seemed to be the  
end of one of my best friends.

* * *

**5:18pm**

They took Alex out of the room after they'd finished and they turned off the lights and told us to be silent. We were left in the darkness and quiet for three hours. None of us were brave enough to even whisper words of comfort to those that were silently crying. All I could do was watch on as silently, Laura's eyes filled with tears and she had to bite her tongue to stop from sobbing.

Max came into the room and we lined up like every other time he had taken us to the bathrooms. He lead us down the hall. As much as I hated walking down the hallways at school I never minded as much as I did then. There were two bodies. Bodies of people from our school. Just lying there in the middle of the hallway. Max told us to step over them. I never hated school as much as I did righ that moment. I didn't look at the faces, I didn't want to know who I was leaving behind.

When we arrived to the bathrooms Max pulled out a key. It hit me that they must've been planning this whole thing for a long time considering they had keys for all the classrooms. You can't just get them over night.

Max began to unlock the bathrooms. Before he did he turned to us.

"We've begun locking them so you nasty little kids can't hide out," he said with a mischevious grin and continued on with unlocking the door. The lock didn't budge though. He tried another key and this time it unlocked. Before he could do anything he was on the ground. Two guys at the front of the group had pushed him by the head into the door, causing him to hit his head hard and fall to the floor. I didn't even notice or know it had happened until everyone had gasped and sort of stepped back away from them.

Max stared up at the two boys from the ground, amazed and looking a little worried two. We were suddenly gaining power over them. Before I could even register it the light haired boy reached down and pulled Max's gun from his pocket in one quick move. He pointed the gun down at Max's face.

"You will get in this fucking bathroom and you will stay there 'til everything's over. No talking, no yelling, no nothing. Shut up and get inside," the boy said to Max. Max stayed there for a moment before slowly standing up. He stared both boys in the eye before speaking.

"There's no fuckin' way I'll listen to you. Now give me back my gun or we'll shoot all of you," Max threatened them in a low voice. Like he was trying not to draw attention to us. I looked up and down the hallway but no one was coming. No one had noticed us.

I watched as both boys raised their fists and punched him in the face. I flinched as Max got hit hard in the face and fell back to the floor. The light haired boy was reluctant to put the gun down so kicked Max in the ribs as the other boy kneeled on the ground and punched him again and again in the head. We were all amazed and a little shocked. The kicks and punches didn't seem to make a noise. It seemed silent, like this wasn't real.

Suddenly both boys stopped and turned to us.

"Look you need to leave," the other boy said in a breathless voice, "Run. But be careful 'cause the others are out there. Just leave, you will get out alive," he told us.

It wasn't even a second before most of the group had broken away and it was just Shaun, Jade, Laura and I, the two boys and Max. We stared at the two boys before they yelled at us again, telling us to leave. And that's what we did.

We just ran. I don't even know how we knew to run in the same direction but we did. We all ran down the hall, trying to be quiet about it. When we reached the end of the hallway we turned the corner and stopped, just a moment to catch our breath.

"Where do we go?" Shaun whispered. I shrugged and breathed hard, looking at the others.

"In there, someone's coming," Laura whispered, pointing to the nearest classroom. I couldn't hear anyone coming but I wasn't even thinking as I threw open the door and the four of us rushed inside. Quickly closing the door quietly behind us and we hide behind the teacher's desk at the front of the room. Laura and I hid under the desk, it had draws on either side so we were hidden from view. Shaun and Jade hide behind it, in front of us. We listened as footsteps did go past the classroom quickly and I wondered how on earth Laura had heard them.

"What should we do?" Shaun whispered, "How will we get out?"

"We have to get Alex and Bailey," Laura told us. I looked at her like she was crazy. Suddenly my mind had changed and I didn't want to save Alex or Bailey anymore. Because I couldn't. I had no idea where they were and I didn't know if I could even get my self out alive.

"Okay, there's only two places I think they could be. Back in their old classroom and in the hallway," Jade said, "Do you think we should risk trying to find them?" I shook my head immediately but Shaun and Laura both nodded furiously.

"I do too," Jade agreed with them.

"Me and you will go find them!" It will be fine. Look I'm sure the other kids in our group have gotten out alive and soon the police will be in. We won't get hurt or anything. And if we can't find them in just a few minutes we'll leave,"

"It's not a good idea, us four will just leave," I tried to tell them.

"No! We're taking Alex and Bailey with us. We'll be okay. Seriously, we'll go look for just a few minutes. If we can't find them we'll meet you guys in. . . the gym changerooms. The changerooms are completely seperate from the bathrooms so it'll be okay. And you can hide in classrooms along the way," Jade told us. I considered this for a moment. It was a good idea and the changerooms were closer to the main entrance of the school than here. But to save Alex and Bailey would be a waste.

"But Alex and Bailey will get out okay anyway! Like Shaun said, the police will be in here soon. We should just wait," I told them worriedly but Shaun was already standing up.

"C'mon Jade, we'll meet you at the changerooms in ten minutes!" Shaun whispered and pulled Jade up. Jade gave me a sympathetic smile before leaving the classroom with Shaun.  
I took a look at Laura who was already staring at me.

"I'm afraid," she whispered. I bit my lip and stared back.

"I am too. But we'll all be fine-"

"I'm scared I'm gonna die, Andy," she said. I didn't know what to say. We were trying to escape a group of kids with guns. How would I know if we would get out alive?


	7. Author's Note

Hey,  
Just wanted to tell you that I'm up to the last chapter of Uprising.  
I wasn't sure how to write it so I'm warning you that I'm going to put the last chapter up in two parts: Andy's POV & Laura's POV.  
You can read which ever one you like or you can read both.

Thanks for all the reviews so far!


	8. seven Andy's POV

**6:02pm**

"It's been half an hour, Andy where are they!?" Laura was talking hurriedly in a loud whisper. I was nervous too. I was scared, worried. The two of us were now hiding out in the school change rooms. No sign of Shaun or Jade. No Alex or Bailey. No nothing. There wasn't even any noise echoing down the hallways, it was just us.

"Look maybe we should just leave. Maybe they found a way to get out and are out there waiting for us!" I said to her quietly. She considered this for a moment before sighing.

"You think so?" she asked. I nodded furiously, trying to get her to agree so we could leave quickly.

"Why else wouldn't they have come back?" I asked. She shrugged and bit her lip, staring at the floor. I waited impatiently for her reply when suddenly she jumped up from the bench.

"Okay, let's go! I don't want to leave them or Bradie or anyone waiting any longer," she said and headed for the door. I bit my lip and felt guilty as I followed her. I had completely forgotten about Bradie and everyone else that wasn't in this school right now. To me it seemed like we were the only ones left.

We sneaked out to the gym doors where I had to pull her back before she ran out into the hallway.

"Don't!" I whispered. She nodded and shrugged but moved aside to let me peek out into the hallway. I looked both ways in a second and pulled myself back into the gym, "There's no one out there. But I think we should go to the front office. There we can just quickly sneak out through the front doors," I told her. She stared at me. Her eyes were huge and watery like she was going to cry. And I silently begged her not to cry, not just now.

"Okay. We'll quickly go to the front office," she said, her voice crackling. I smiled at her before opening the door, sticking my head out to make sure no one was coming and ran the few metres down the hall to the office. I tried my best to get there quickly and quietly as possible. And it must've worked because Laura joined me in the office a second later and there were still no sound from the others in the hallways.

My breathing was fast but I was sort of used to it by now. This was all giving me a huge adrenaline rush that I loved.

"How will we get out?" Laura asked. I looked to the doors of the office that lead outside. Because the doors were all glass they were covered in black paper too, though the light of the sun set outside was seeping in through random cracks at the bottom of the doors.

I didn't answer her but walked up to the doors and tried to open them. But of course they were locked. Why wouldn't they be. We all could've escaped by now if these doors weren't locker. And for just a moment I wondered if the rest of our class had gotten out okay. Laura snapped me out of my thoughts.

"What will we do?" she asked, "Maybe we should take the paper off and someone will see us and come save us," she said, picking at a piece of tape holding up the black pieces of paper.  
I shook my head and hit her hand away.

"Too dangerous. Max or Harry or anyone could see the light come in and come kill us before anyone saves us," I told her. Her face fell and I immediately wanted to take back what I had just said, "I'm sorry but-"

"No, it's okay. It's the truth," she smiled at me, trying to be brave, "Now how will we get out, quickly," she added. I looked around the room. I needed something to unlock the door. Or break the doors down. I spotted the tiny coffee table sitting between two of the small benches where I'd had to sit a number of times when I'd been sent to see the principal. I smiled and went to pick it up. It wasn't very heavy as I carried it over to the doors.

"Stand back. As soon as I break the door run," I told Laura. She nodded and I turned back to the doors. I held the small table out so the legs were facing the doors and I shut my eyes as I forced the legs of the table into the glass doors. I could hear the cracks happen but nothing else. I tried again and this time I heard something, louder. The cracks and breaking of the glass and footsteps in the hallway.

"Hurry! We're not gonna make it. They're coming," Laura said, trying to be quiet but wanting to yell at the same time. I panicked and kept hitting the table into the door.

Suddenly both the doors shattered into pieces right in front of me. The sun piereced my eyes and I was sure it would blind me. But for some reasons I didn't worry about it. I turned around and dropped the table. Laura was standing there still crying but stunned at what had just happened. I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards me, I pushed her towards the broken doors and down the steps of the building. I watched as she hurried down the steps, keeping her head down to block out the light and I could still hear her whimpers. But they were suddenly covered by the yelling and hard footsteps of two boys. I heard them gasp when they saw what we had done but that didn't stop them from grabbing my arms before I could take a step out the door and pulling me back.

"Laura!" I yelled, hoping someone would hear that I was still alive and come get me. The boys didn't say anything as they pulled me away from the light, out of sight of all those out there. They pulled me around the corner as I struggled to break free. If I could just get a step out onto the grass I could save everyone here.

"Stop! Stop, now!" I heard a man yell as there were more hard footsteps on the ground and cracking noises. I sighed and started to cry, thinking it was more of Max and Harry's friends coming to kill me. Just do it quick I thought. But when I raised my head and quit struggling free from their grip I saw the big letters on their tshirt. POLICE.

I stopped struggling as the two boys loosened their grip on me and I stumbled forward. There were now three police men staring at us, not exactly sure what to do. But one spoke up.

"You," he pointed to me, "Come along," he held his hand out and motioned to the front doors of the school. I ran past him out the doors into freedom.

**Thanks to one you love to hate.- , Emily & CommeParMagie for reviewing. =)**


	9. seven Laura's POV

**6:02pm**

"It's been half an hour, Andy where are they!?" I asked in a loud whisper. Both of us had been sitting in the change rooms in the gym, waiting on Shaun and Jade. But neither of them had come back yet and we hadn't heard any noise coming from in the halls, it was just us. I was worried. About them, Bailey and Alex. Especially Bailey and Alex. I haven't seen Bailey since the morning I left the outside world and came to school. I'd seen Alex, of course, but I knew he wasn't well. With the way they were shaking him around and all.

"Look maybe we should just leave. Maybe they found a way to get out and are out there waiting for us!" Andy said quietly. I thought about that for a moment and sighed. I guess that was the only option we had left. Beside staying here. And I wanted nothing more than to leave.

"You think so?" I asked. Andy nodded furiously, his face serious and scared at the same time.

"Why else wouldn't they have come back?" he asked me. I knew the answer but didn't say it out loud. Instead I shrugged and bit my lip, staring at the floor. I didn't want to think about it but if they are gone then we have to get out alive.

I jumped up onto the bench we were sitting on.

"Okay, let's go! I don't want to leave them or Bradie or anyone waiting any longer," I said suddenly feeling brave and headed for the door. I heard Andy slowly get up and follow me quietly to the door. We silently and quickly ran from the change rooms to the gym doors that lead out to the hallway. I was about to open the door to see if anyone was out there when Andy pulled my back by my top. I looked at him confused, didn't he want to leave?

"Don't!" he whispered. I just nodded to say I understood and shrugged but moved aside to let him look out into the hallway. I watched as he looked up and down the hallway for just a second before stepping back and shutting the door again.

"There's no one out there. But I think we should go to the front office. There we can just quickly sneak out through the front doors," he told me. I stared at him. I felt like I was going to cry, yet again. I was just so confused about this all. When I came to school all I had wanted to do was sit in class for the day, pretend to learn and go home. But now I was sneaking my way out of the school.

"Okay. We'll quickly go to the front office," I agreed, and I heard my voice crack. Andy smiled at me before opening the door, taking another look to make sure no one was coming and ran the few metres down the hall to the office. As soon as he had run silently out of the gym I ran after him, clenching my fists in worry that the gym doors would slam shut and we'd be caught. But the doors didn't make a sound, or I didn't hear it over my pounding heart beat.

"How will we get out?" I asked. Now that we were in the front office of the school the only way out was through the glass doors that lead to the front gates of the school. The doors were covered in black paper like all the windows in the school.

Andy didn't answer me. I watched him as he walked up to the doors and tried to open them. Locked. The doors were locked and I suddenly thought there was no way out of this place.

"What will we do?" I asked, "Maybe we should take the paper off and someone will see us and come save us," I told him and walked over to the doors. I didn't think the idea would work that much. It wasn't even planned, I just came up with it as I talked. I picked at a piece of tape holding up the black pieces of paper. Andy hit my hand away from the tape and I looked at him. Oh he was scared alright.

"Too dangerous. Max or Harry or anyone could see the light come in and come kill us before anyone saves us," he said. My breath caught in my throat when he openly said what we'd all been thinking. It hurt even more to say it out loud, "I'm sorry but-"

"No, it's okay. It's the truth," I smiled at him, trying to put on a brave face, "Now how will we get out, quickly?" He looked around the room. I followed his gaze everywhere. Until his eyes settled on the tiny coffee table standing between the two small benches against the wall. I raised my eyebrows as he went to pick it up, wondering how in the world he was going to unlock the doors with a table. But as he picked it up and went to stand in front of the glass doors I realized what he was doing. Stupid, I told myself.

"Stand back. As soon as I break the door run," Andy turned to look at me. I nodded to tell him I heard and he looked back at the doors. I took a step or two back and held my breath as I watched him. I had all these sudden visions of the glass crashing everywhere, piercing our skins. Or Max and Harry would hear us and come shoot us.

Those thoughts were cleared from my head as Andy forced the legs of the table into the glass doors. The only thing to happen was the glass cracking. Oh gosh, we're not gonna make it, I told myself. We're not gonna make it! I started panicking and silently begged him to hurry and save us!

He tried again and this time something happened.

"Hurry! We're not gonna make it. They're coming," Laura said, trying to be quiet but wanting to yell at the same time. Andy heard me and kept hitting the table into the door.

There was a piercing shatter as the glass doors broke and fell to the floor in front of him. The sun blinded me and the sound of breaking glass rattled in my ears. But for some reasons I didn't worry about it. I watched as Andy turned around and dropped the table. I half expected him to be covered in glass and blood but he seemed fine. I was stunned and crying at the same time. I didn't know what to feel. Excited that we were leaving, or horrified that I could now hear foot steps coming down the hallway.

Andy took a step towards me and grabbed me arm, pulling me out of it. He pushed me towards the shattered doors and outside onto the steps of the building. It didn't feel like it was me anymore. It didn't feel as if my legs were connected to me as I squinted my eyes to keep the sun out and ran down the steps. I collapsed into a heap as soon I reached the grass, sobbing and yelling.

It wasn't until then that I realized there were hundreds of people standing all around. Police, parents of the kids inside, even an ambulance. A few people rushed towards me. Stroking my hair, patting my back, speaking words of comfort and trying to get me to stand up. I lifted my head and sat up properly ignoring all of them. Because something wasn't right.

"Where's Andy?" I thought I yelled. But when no one flinched at my yells or replied I realized I was whispering. I turned around to the broken school doors. I watched as three men with tshirts marked POLICE ran into the building. I started crying harder then at the realization that the only people who could stop this were police!

I turned away from the school doors and took a bottle of water that one of the ambulance officers were handing me. I drank it quickly, relieved at the feeling of having water and hating the burning feeling in my throat from drinking too fast. I had to stop drinking soon to take a breath.

"Who's that?" I heard someone ask. I turned around to see what they were pointing at. Andy. Running down the stairs to me. To freedom. We both had freedom now.


End file.
